Robot Vacuum

Robot vacuums are exposed as Matter Robotic Vacuum Cleaner devices with the following capabilities:

• On/Off - Start and stop cleaning

• RVC Operational State - Current state (idle, running, docked, error)

• RVC Run Mode - Cleaning modes including room-specific cleaning

• Service Area - Room selection for Apple Home (Matter 1.4)

• RVC Clean Mode - Cleaning type selection (Sweeping, Mopping, etc.)

• Power Source - Battery level (if available)

Cleaning Modes¶

The RVC Clean Mode cluster allows selecting the cleaning type. This is auto-enabled for Dreame and Ecovacs vacuums, and can be manually configured for other brands.

Supported Cleaning Modes¶

Auto-Detection (Dreame)¶

For Dreame vacuums, the cleaning mode entity is automatically derived from the vacuum entity ID:

• vacuum.r2d2 → select.r2d2_cleaning_mode

No manual configuration is needed unless the entity naming differs (e.g., special characters in the vacuum name).

Manual Configuration (Ecovacs, Others)¶

For vacuums where the cleaning mode entity can’t be auto-detected (Ecovacs, or Dreame with non-standard naming), you need to configure it manually:

1. Go to your bridge settings → Entity Mappings

2. Edit your vacuum entity (e.g., vacuum.t20_omni)

3. Set Cleaning Mode Entity to the select entity that controls the cleaning mode (e.g., select.t20_omni_betriebsmodus)

4. Restart the bridge

After configuration, your controller (Apple Home, Alexa) should show the available cleaning mode options.

Server Mode (Recommended for Apple Home & Alexa)¶

What is Server Mode?¶

Server Mode exposes a single device as a standalone Matter device instead of a bridged device. This is required because:

• Apple Home doesn’t support Siri voice commands for bridged RVCs

• Alexa doesn’t discover bridged RVCs at all

• The vacuum shows “Updating” or “Not Responding” in Apple Home

How to Enable Server Mode¶

1. Create a new bridge in the Matter Hub web interface

2. Enable “Server Mode” checkbox in the bridge creation wizard

3. Add only your vacuum to this bridge (Server Mode supports exactly 1 device)

4. Pair the new bridge with Apple Home or Alexa

5. Your other devices stay on your regular bridge(s)

After Enabling Server Mode¶

• Your vacuum will appear as a native Matter device (not bridged)

• Siri voice commands like “Hey Siri, start the vacuum” will work

• Alexa will discover and control the vacuum

• Room selection via Service Area will work in Apple Home

Room Selection¶

Room selection is supported through two mechanisms:

1. RVC Run Mode (Google Home, Alexa, etc.)¶

Custom cleaning modes are created for each room, e.g., “Clean Kitchen”, “Clean Living Room”. These appear as selectable modes in compatible controllers.

2. Service Area Cluster (Apple Home)¶

Apple Home uses the Matter 1.4 Service Area cluster for room selection. This is automatically enabled when your vacuum exposes room data.

Room Data Requirements¶

For room selection to work, your vacuum integration must expose room data as entity attributes. Supported formats:

# Format 1: Direct array
rooms:
  - id: 1
    name: Kitchen
  - id: 2
    name: Living Room

# Format 2: Segments array
segments:
  - id: 1
    name: Kitchen
  - id: 2
    name: Living Room

# Format 3: Dreame nested format
rooms:
  "My Home":
    - id: 1
      name: Kitchen
    - id: 2
      name: Living Room

Apple Home & Alexa Limitations¶

Apple Home and Alexa have specific limitations with robot vacuums over Matter:

Why Bridged Vacuums Don’t Work¶

Both Apple Home and Alexa expect robot vacuums to be standalone Matter devices. When exposed through a bridge (with BridgedDeviceBasicInformation cluster), they:

• Apple Home: Shows “Updating”, Siri commands fail, room selection doesn’t work

• Alexa: Doesn’t discover the vacuum at all

Solution: Use Server Mode¶

Server Mode is the recommended solution. See Server Mode above for setup instructions.

Supported Integrations¶

Room selection works with any integration that exposes room data as attributes:

Roborock (Official Integration)¶

The official Roborock integration does not expose room data as attributes. Instead, it creates button entities for each room/scene configured in the Roborock app.

Example button entities:

• button.roborock_clean_kitchen

• button.roborock_clean_living_room

• button.roborock_clean_bedroom

Setting up Room Selection for Roborock¶

1. Open the Entity Mapping page in the Matter Hub web UI

2. Edit your Roborock vacuum entity (e.g., vacuum.roborock_qrevo)

3. In the “Room Button Entities” field, select the button entities for each room

   • The UI will auto-discover button entities belonging to the same device

   • You can also manually enter entity IDs

4. Save the mapping

5. Restart the bridge or re-pair to apply changes

How it works¶

When you select a room in Apple Home and start cleaning:

1. HAMH identifies which room was selected

2. Presses the corresponding button entity in Home Assistant

3. The Roborock integration triggers the room cleaning via the Roborock cloud

Dreame Integration Note¶

The Dreame integration exposes room data in a nested format. As of version 1.x-alpha.150+, this format is fully supported.

If your vacuum uses separate select entities for room selection instead of attributes, you may need to use the cleaningModeEntity mapping instead.

Troubleshooting¶

Rooms not appearing in Apple Home¶

1. Re-pair the vacuum: Remove it from Apple Home and add it again after updating

2. Check room attributes: Verify your vacuum has rooms, segments, or room_list in its attributes

3. Separate bridge: Try putting the vacuum in its own bridge (see above)

Room selection not working¶

1. Check the logs for errors when selecting a room

2. Verify the vacuum integration supports the vacuum.send_command service with app_segment_clean

Vacuum not showing in Apple Home¶

This is likely the bridge limitation issue. Create a separate bridge with only the vacuum.